Chapter 10:preparations

The unknown figure walked through the door with slow and steady steps. Her high heels echoed, reaching the front of the class. She stood straight like a pole with one hand on her hip, adopting a bewitching pose. The class stared at her like she was an actress on stage, the spotlight shining down on her. Noah gazed at her like in a dream, his eyes sparkling with a starry light. Meanwhile, Bryan stared at her with a blank look, yet with an analytically, keeping in mind her relationship with Mr. Otters.

The woman was young. She looked about mid-twenties, which contrasted the other middle-aged teachers. Her skin was a fair beige tone, looking quite natural. There was a noticeable mole by the corner of her mouth, giving her a unique glamour. The dyed platinum hair fell to her shoulders, straight down. Her black high heels made her tall stature overbearing, while the black stockings wrapped around by a short pencil skirt emphasized her long legs. Her pencil skirt ended above her thighs. She wore a dandelion yellow shirt, her countenance like a breath of fresh air. Her eyes were sharp and cunning, but carried a seductive hint to them.

Although Bryan had a poker face, he had to admit she was beautiful. Her beauty was like a sharp blade: good to look at from afar, but will cut you when too close. The seductive demoness looked across the class before her gaze landed on Bryan. Naturally, he didn't shy away and stared at her dead in the eye. After a couple of beats, the woman broke out into an alluring smile before speaking in a soft, but loud enough voice.

"My name is Sybil Miller, and I'll be your home room and physics teacher from now on." Her voice was unwavering, brimming with confidence. Her voice held a hypnotic tune if one didn't pay attention.

"Finals are coming up, so I expect you all studying for them. We'll do a review in our physics class…"

She ended home room after explaining a few events occurring in the following weeks. Everyone reluctantly left for their next class except Bryan, who was the first to get up. Bryan's right foot was out the door when a feminine voice called out behind them.

"Bryan Hayes. Can we talk for a moment?" Ms. Miller spoke sitting at her desk.

She crossed her arms, poised upright. Bryan shrugged, walking to the desk. He turned around, signaling Noah to leave. He winked with his thumb up in response, which made Bryan roll his eyes. After he left, it was silent. Ms. Miller roved over his body with interest, while Bryan held his usual poker face. Yet he was racking his brain trying to figure out why she wanted to talk to him.

"Do you work out?" She asked.

"Pardon? Ah yes, I do." Bryan responded, disoriented.

"I see." Her curt response resulted in more staring.

Bryan was about to speak, when she cut in.

"I heard you got into a fight with another student. Is it true?"

She stopped staring and looked him in the eye. Her specialization was gathering intel, and it was easiest from perverted men. She always saw the passion and lust behind all male gazes she was talking to. They all tried to please her by spilling everything she wanted to know. She used her pretty face, becoming one of the best spies on The Dark Net. She expected the same from the mere student in front of her. What met her, though, were gray eyes, maintaining complete lucidity and calm. She felt completely naked under her gaze. She flinched involuntarily.

"It was self-defense." He responded in an ice-cold tone, but with a gentle smile.

"A-alright. Take care of yourself. Make sure you don't get into any more trouble." She responded in a hoarse voice, which didn't do justice to her playful demeanor.

"Of course, Ms. Miller."

***

Bryan left the room leaving Ms. Miller by herself. She placed a hand on her racing heart, trying to calm it down. She stared at the door for a while before muttering to herself bitterly.

"Grandpa, what have you gotten me into?"

Nothing could be heard, except the faint breathing of a startled woman.

***

…

Classes went on as usual, but Bryan didn't. He kept thinking about the meeting with his new teacher. Ms. Miller's questioning scared Bryan shitless.

Fucking hell. She's dangerous. She tried to lead the conversation to trap me. Luckily I didn't show anything on my face, or she would have found me out. Not to mention her seductive looks. Damn it. Does the old geezer suspect I think with my lower half? Or did he find something in the broadcasting room leading to me? I don't know. The fact she focused on me the entire class and talked to me straight after proves he sent her. But what for? Whatever, I can only lie low in front of her until she loses interest.

The bell rung, signaling the end of the school day. Finals were coming, everyone started to leave except a few delinquents.

School is a waste of time. With my memory I could just graduate. Hm, maybe I'll talk with Mr. Otters. The last thing he would expect would be for the prey to walk straight into the dragon's mouth.

He wanted to become independent by graduating this year. He would take a gap year to solidify his foundations in hacking before applying to college. At the same time, he would start to establish credibility on The Dark Net.

I got some debts to settle first…

Bryan wanted to sever his ties with his earlier life first, by destroying the two gangs in Great Colows. He had a rough idea on how his plan was going to play out, however there was a problem stumping Bryan.

There's no internet there. How am I supposed to hack anything there when they have no internet?! Wait, maybe there's something in the store.

Bryan opened his status window, directly opening the store tab. However, the tab was grayed out. He tried to mentally touch it over and over to no avail. Then a window popped up.

THE STORE IS ONLY AVAILABLE WHEN LEARNING THE BASICS OF CODING. IT IS TO AID THE HACKER IN LEARNING AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE. STORE UNAVAILABLE.

What the- That's bullshit!

Bryan roared in his mind, cursing the system a hundred times. After venting, he heaved out a large sigh. He walked to the gym dejected, without waiting for the other three. The gym was only a two-minute walk from the school.

"Hey Bryan." a tender voice called out.

It was the beautiful receptionist from the first time Bryan came in. Her round green eyes still stared at him with curiosity. This time, she tied her hair into two braids, resting them on her shoulders.

"Hey Alison, I'll be in the pool for two and a half hours." Bryan said with a polite smile, feeling a bit better seeing the chirpy girl.

"Sure thing. Do you notice anything?" She asked with anticipation.

"Your hairstyle is cute." Bryan praised her amusingly.

"Hehe, thank you." She responded, a red blush on her face.

Alison chatted with Bryan every time he visited the gym for the past half-year. Although they weren't friends, they could be called acquaintances. Alison styled her hair differently every time Bryan entered the gym, making it a routine for him to compliment her hair. Bryan liked Alison's chirpy yet shy personality, which he thought was quite funny and humored her antics. Under her smiling gaze, Bryan entered the changing room. He changed into his swim wear and entered the pool. It was a weekday and not many people were there. Near the poolside, Bryan found a familiar figure stretching his body, getting ready to enter the pool.

He was muscular. He had diamond cut abs. His tall bearing complimented his Herculean build. Seeing Bryan, He waved his hand with a big smile, his ginger hair swaying with every movement.

Bryan walked over and greeted him casually.

"Hey Jeremy. It's rare to see you at the pool."

"Come on, you make it sound like I'm a caveman who only knows how to lift." Jeremy joked.

"I mean, it's true, right?" Jeremy's face stiffened at Bryan's response before awkwardly chuckling.

"I'm ready to go. What about you?." Jeremy's awful attempt to change the subject amused Bryan.

"Alright, let's go." They both jumped into the pool after their stretches and started to do laps with different strokes.

Jeremy was another acquaintance. However, with Jeremy's outgoing personality, they became gym friends in the past months. Jeremy had helped Bryan get into proper shape since he was a veteran, even teaching him fighting techniques of the army. Bryan's forte was bare handed fighting. With the help of Jeremy, Bryan had become a monster, even Jeremy had a hard time dealing with.

After two and a half hours of continuous swimming in all four strokes, they called it a day and changed. After parting with Jeremy, Bryan headed home. He opened the door to find Emily, Noah, and Elina on the couch playing some cards. Hearing the door opening, they all faced the entrance before breaking out into smiles, except Emily, of course.

"Where were you? We were waiting for you for a while." Emily asked irritated.

Under their gazes, Bryan responded.

"I was at the gym. I'll go shower and change." He said before heading up.

"Yeah, we're missing a player. Also, I want to know about the girls at the gym. Are they- "

Before Noah could finish his sentence, His ribs were playfully jabbed by Emily's elbow. He curled on the floor holding his side with an overdramatic performance. Elina let out a soft chuckle seeing this.

Bryan shook his head before heading to his room and shutting the door. He changed his clothes before sitting at his computer.

Alright, let's do this.

Before he headed out to Great Colows, he needed weapons and equipment to get rid of the two gangs altogether. He took out the green USB, inspecting it.

VPN - HIDES THE IP AND LOCATION OF THE MACHINE THIS DEVICE IS PLUGGED INTO. MAX USES 2/3

5 CRYPTS

He plugged in the USB before launching the web browser. Bryan had read on how to reach The Dark Net. According to the guide, he had downloaded a web browser called Tor to provide anonymity when accessing The Dark Net. Bryan used his VPN to stay even more secure when browsing the web. The last thing he wanted was all his information being posted and being stalked or even worse, hunted down. Using this web browser, he could get access to many illegal sites which provided drugs, weapons, classified intel, and much more. Tor had browser specific sites called 'onion sites'. This meant no other browser could use these sites, and even if they did, they would be found out within minutes, being locked out. The law couldn't shut any onion sites on The Dark Net down, since all sites had encrypted firewalls. The few unlucky sites were back up within a couple of days.

Bryan browsed a couple of onion sites before opening several of them in new tabs.